Abandon
by OpenWings
Summary: It is a soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires." Rated M for adult situations. Kiddies, avert thine eyes.
1. Decision

A/N: Hey! I finally managed to get around to paying attention to my reader's requests. I was asked to write on this particular pairing by RaeSJ a looooong time ago, when I published Running Away. So here you go! I'm sorry it took so long K Muah

Ise Nanao was a woman of principle; she had always put duty before pleasure, always done the right thing no matter the sacrifice it required. She had worked day and night in the Academy because she thought that was what it took to be a good Shinigami. She practiced endlessly to train herself for the performance that Soul Society would expect of her. She did all that she did just so she would be able to hold her head up high, so that she would never have to go back to where she had come from. She rejoiced quietly in the dignity with which other people treated her and worked herself to the bone just to keep that respect. She spent so long a time buried in her books, under the burden of her pride that she forgot how to live.

Matsumoto Rangiku had been a blessing in disguise, not to mention a very unwanted one at the time. She had stumbled into Nanao's quarters when they were both lowly seated-officers, thoroughly drunk and exceedingly insistent that 'librarian-girl' come out and play. Nanao, after being dragged out by her nose, had thought that one round of sake to pacify the rather homicidal blonde-haired woman could not do her much harm…and it was a weekend after all. Matsumoto managed to get Nanao drunk and although Nanao still makes it a point to turn up her nose at the mention of the events of that fateful night, she still considered it the only occasion when she had felt so utterly _uninhibited_. They had ended up at Matsumoto's place nursing colossal hangovers and much bruised modesties. It still surprises her that it took one joke and a throaty cackle from Rangiku to make her realize that it had been years since she had laughed.

Her second emancipation came on the day she was promoted to Vice-Captain, under the 8th Squad Captain; Kyouraku Shunsui. The moment the man floated in with his pink flowery coat with his bottle of sake and his profuse lack of manners, he set off a twinge in her that took her otherwise brilliant mind years to interpret. To her surprise, she realized that the twinge in her was actually envy. Envy towards the drunken, womanizing, slothful escapist she called Taichou. Because Ise Nanao was no fool, never had been. She knew that the life of a shinigami was fickle, no matter how long it lasted. She knew that in this world the next moment could be your last. Kyouraku Shunsui made her feel like she had been missing out on the fun side of life. In time, he made her feel like she had been missing out on life itself. It took a couple of hundred more years full of his liveliness and utter lack of reserve to make her feel like he was her life.

Nanao was used to summing people up with one glance. Her observational and inferential skills were unmatched. She could deduce a man's entire personality through one quick glimpse of his fingernails. She had been confident, secure in her ability to see through to people's weaknesses and strengths, and to manipulate them to suit either hers or their best interests. Kyouraku Shunsui, however much she had denied it, was the only person she could not understand. His entire being was cloaked in thick fog to her mathematical eyes, leaving her unsure and questioning herself. She just didn't know what to make of him. He was a square peg that she tried to fit into her neat, round slots, trying doggedly even though she knew he wouldn't fit. The man was a mass of impulses, tagging after her quoting tacky love poems one moment and turning into a beacon of strength and power the next.

He made her feel…incomplete. She decided she didn't like being that way at all.

Soon after he had 'saved' her from Genryuusai Sama and sent her heart skittering from her grasp, she concluded that she couldn't take it anymore. One moment she felt like she was walking on air. The next, she felt like the gods had assigned a special little raincloud to hover over her head.

So when she showed up at his door in the middle of the night her decision was firm. Tonight she would finish this masochistic torture. She had agonized for a while whether he would be sober enough to actually…follow her plan, until a little voice in her head told her that he was never truly drunk, he just pretended to be.

The shoji rolled back, revealing Shunsui in a yukata, rubbing sleep from his eyes. It took him a second to realize who was standing on his veranda. Brows lifted amusedly he motioned for her to enter before sliding the door shut and leaning against the doorjamb to survey her playfully.

"Nanao-Chan? Why are you here so late at night? Have you come to seduce me?" the man grinned as his eyebrows waggled suggestively. Nanao pushed her glasses up delicately with her forefinger before gathering all her courage and drawing on all of Matsumoto's abundant advice, fixed him with the most heated gaze she could muster.

"Yes. Yes, I have."


	2. Abandon

_A/N: Hey!__ I know I'm the worst updater, but I needed to have the right inspiration for this chapter. Its not easy writing this stuff you know…_:_ Anyway, I HAD to make it a little mushy coz I can't do businesslike stuff. __Hehe__ Anyway, beware of the diabetes inducing amounts of mush, and the NC-17 LEMON. DON'T LIKE DON'T READ. Reviews equal love! MUAH_

_CHAPTER 2_

_"Nanao-Chan?__ Why are you here so late at night? Have you come to seduce me?"_

_"Yes. Yes, I have." _

Kyouraku Shunsui blinked.

His Nanao Chan was standing at his door, telling him that she was there in the middle of the night to indulge in all sorts of naughty nocturnal activities with him. Ise Nanao. Naughty nocturnal activities.

Kyouraku Shunsui blinked again.

Nanao just stood in front of him tapping her dainty foot on the ground, impatiently waiting for the shock to wear off looking more than a little ticked off. Shunsui had to struggle to control his suddenly overactive imagination.

Letting out his breath with a whoosh, he pulled his stunned features into the most adorable smile he could.

"Ah, my Nanao Chan is such a wit-" a single fingertip on his mouth cut him off midsentence. His mouth dried at the look in her eyes.

"I'm not joking Taichou. Moreover, our relationship isn't completely platonic, or is it? "She _sashayed_ past him and reached up to unclasp her hairclip. The sleeves of her uniform slipped to her elbows, exposing her delicate wrists the lovely lines of her arms. He felt his sanity skim away along with the cloth.

"It's supposed to be, Nanao." Her glasses were somehow off and he could see into the deep darkness of her eyes.

His voice was suddenly so serious that she looked at him over her shoulder, her hair cascading down as her precise movements with the hairclip accomplished their goal. He was still leaning on the door, silent unmoving and grave, making her resolve waver more than a little.

She summoned all the courage she had to walk to him and lean into his chest, slowly sliding the door shut with a single graceful shift of her arm. He was swamped by her proximity and her scent, rainwater and pears.

He was brooding and she had the feeling that he both all too aware of her and at the same time too lost in himself to make a move. She remedied it by chastely pressing her lips to his. He froze, stiffened for just a moment before his lips softened against hers. She pulled away, lowering her head so he couldn't see her eyes as she fiddled with the fold of his yukata, unconsciously arranging it.

"You're not letting it. I thought I could ignore everything, I used to be able to you know. I could ignore everything and pretend that I didn't notice how my heart jumped when you said something stupid about me. Or how I wanted to kill Matsumoto when your eyes rested on her for too long."

His brain screamed incongruously for him to run away from her as fast as he could; his body, to just take her in his arms and fulfill that grinding need that had been brewing between them for so long.

"Nanao…" she leaned her forehead gently against his chest; her breath was fire on his skin. It was odd how he couldn't think, like a schoolboy in front of his first crush. He was utterly tongue-tied, couldn't manage to force anything but her name past his lips while his brain screeched up a cacophony inside his head.

"No. I want you to know, even though I know it doesn't make a difference, even if it doesn't change anything. Remember that day you read out that ridiculous poetry to me beneath the sakura trees? I think I've been in love with you ever since, I just didn't know it."

She looked up at him then, and though her voice was full of tears, her eyes were dry and luminous in the warm lamplight.

"I don't expect the words back, Taichou. We both know this would be disastrous to our careers. I'm only asking for tonight. Will you?" she couldn't bring herself to cheapen her feelings more by saying it.

Her heart swelled with something incomprehensible when he leaned down and kissed her forehead, her eyes, the tip of her nose, her cheeks. Whispered her name before claiming her lips with his.

He tasted like sake and underneath that of something she couldn't place as anything other than _him_. His lips were soft and firm and smooth at the same time and the way they moved over hers left her dizzy and wanting. His tongue followed her harsh intake of breath, making her moan in pleasure, making her melt in his arms and tangle her fingers in his hair as he carried her to the futon.

He hulked over her small frame, all bronzed muscle and hard planes, his weight pressing her into the softness of the bedding. She let her restless hands explore him, surprised to feel that his shirt was open, and even more surprised to find hers missing altogether. His tongue was exploring her mouth, sweeping through in long lazy strokes that sent shivers of desire straight to her core. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth making her arch up against him, gasping.

Her fingertips brushed over his unshaven cheeks, the line of his jaw, tracing his collarbone, driving him mad. He snatched up one of her roving hands, brought it to his mouth and kissed the tips of her fingers. Her breath hitched in the most adorable way, her eyes vulnerable and oh so wanting. His body burned with desire but tonight wasn't for him. He prayed to whatever deity was listening for there to be more nights like this one, for her to let him…

"Open up for me," he whispered, breathing harshly against her swollen mouth and then impatiently pushed her chin down with his thumb. His tongue shot past her lips, tearing a gasp from her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed closer. What was a man supposed to do with such a willing, innocent, candid temptress who seemed hell-bent on unwittingly seducing him into losing all control?

"Kiss me. Kiss me back, Nanao," he whispered and fused his mouth with hers again, tongue sliding in, this time to play with hers. She arched against him, pressing against his hardness. He gasped and reached up to caress her breasts.

She was struggling for breath, as his hands continued their pleasure-torture, his mouth dragging across her cheek to suck on the curve of her jaw. She groaned as his teeth scraped down her neck and bit at the dip in her collarbone. Her nails dug into his back.

Abandon, all she could do was abandon herself to the sensations that went singing through her. He didn't know what she did to make him want her so badly but it worked. He captured her lips again and this time she fought for the advantage. He broke the kiss suddenly and wrapping his arms around her waist, lifted them both until he was kneeling and she was straddling his legs, her own wrapped around his waist. The feeling of her pelvis pressed to his was almost too much to take; his pants restricted him painfully.

"Shunsui! What are you doing to me?" she moaned and fused her lips to his. He tugged at her full bottom lip and then left her mouth, traveling down. She whimpered, or maybe it was him, there was no way to be sure. The world was melting into a myriad of colors, like a watercolor left out in the rain.

His hand closed over her breast, tearing a gasp from her and she arched into his hand. She nearly screamed with pleasure when his mouth followed, fingers tangled in his hair, clutching his mouth in place. He moved on to her other breast, lavishing it with the same attention. By the time his mouth returned to hers, she felt like a burning, quivering mass of jelly. Hunger flared up inside her and she tore at his shirt, desperate to touch him back, to feel his skin against hers. He helped her by roughly pulling it off and crushing her against his bare chest, mouth hungering against hers. He felt like silk over steel, every muscle she ran her hands over was taut and she felt like she couldn't get enough of just the feeling of his bare flesh. She broke the kiss, trailing her lips down his neck, running her hands over his strong arms as her action made his hands grip her hips harder.

She was kissing down his chest, pushing him back to allow her more access, and he felt the last of his blood draining toward a very specific area. He couldn't take this anymore. His hips bucked up against her repeatedly, needily while his hand tangled in her hair, encouraging her. He groaned as her lips found his nipples and pulled one into her mouth. He couldn't take it anymore; if he let her go on for even one more second he would explode in his pants. He jerked her lips up to his own in a fiery kiss before coaxing her onto her back, struggling with her hakama. She helped him by arching her hips off the floor so he could slide them off. He made quick work of her panties and his fingers were touching her, making her whimper with so many needs.

He found her hands planted against his chest, and before he knew it he was on his back and she was lowering herself onto his length and the world was closing in on him until there was only her, only her. Her fire was eating away at him, eroding the definite lines of dreams and reality, stripping him of his sanity with every clean movement of her body. He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes and when he did, he didn't trust himself to blink.

He was so hard and so hot and so _there_ that she nearly wept for the joy that rushed through her in a dizzying wave as she began to move over him, back and forth and in little circles that made him grind his teeth and dig his fingers into her hips to make her move on and off. She had the most radiant smile on her face, full of power and knowledge and secrets he could never hope to find out but how he wished to. The ability to think was slipping from his fingers now, along with his control.

He flipped her over quickly, so she wouldn't be able to fight it, but her smile gave him the vague impression that he had only succeeded because she _let_ him. He couldn't bring himself to care, not when she was tightening around him just so…

She cried out with his first thrust, her eyes glazing over with shocked pleasure and he found himself wondering absently what sort of lovers she had taken before who weren't able to make her feel even this. His ego surged and he designed every thrust for her pleasure. She released a low scream and he felt her muscles clench around him in a velvet fist that nearly broke his control but he couldn't finish yet, not when he had so much more to show her.

He waited for the spasms to subside, reveling in her surprised gaze when she discovered him still hard inside her, even more in her harsh gasp against his mouth when he began to move again, harder, more selfish this time.

"Nanao," his voice rasped against her ear.

It had been amazing, mind-blowing and the fact that he wasn't done yet, that there may be more excited her like nothing had ever before. He lifted one leg over his shoulder, sliding in deeper, harder making her scream with every plunge inside her. He was grinding against her hyper-sensitive flesh, and the burning wall of pleasure was going to slam into her any moment now.

"Nanao, come for me. Come for me now." He cried out her name when she did.

She came harder than before, the waves of her pleasure taking him with her as he spilled himself inside her, gasping against her shoulder, shivering and shaking with the force of it. It was out of his mouth before he knew it.

"I love you." He could have sworn she laughed as the tears that had been in her voice finally flowed from her eyes.


	3. Reality

_A/N: __Here's__ the next chapter! __**Thank **__**you (!!!!)**__ to everyone who reviewed and favorite my story!__ You __guys__ are the best! XD __I was planning to end Abandon with this chapter but I got some inspiration from a couple of friends. A BIG shout out to __M__omoqurazor__, thanks for everything! Again, your __thoughts on my story is__ what gives me the motivation to write in the first place so keep reviewing. _

_Biology_

**Chapter Three: Reality**

The sky was graying outside the window when she awoke, the feeling of waking up in a man's arms unfamiliar but not unwelcome. Slowly she shifted to face her lover, the slight movement making abused tissues sting. She made a mental note to never go that long without sex again. The sight of Shunsui in the morning was not something she had expected, not after last night. He was sprawled over the futon, snoring and drooling all over the pillow. Not a pleasant sight, but she couldn't deny that it made her feel deliriously, dizzily happy.

She rolled onto her back, smiling as she stretched her arms out over her head. Last night had been…amazing. She had never felt so alive before, so free. She had also never had four rounds in a record time of 5 hours. It had been so different from how she had imagined it would be, and so much more. Sex had never been so meaningful before, never been so consequential. She allowed herself a selfish burst of joy at the realization that he loved her. Kyouraku Shunsui loved her. She leaned in close to him and brushed a light kiss on the curve of his shoulder, breathing in his scent.

Dawn was breaking, sending pale beams of warmth into the room when she softly climbed out of bed. her captain may be excused from lateness seeing as no one could make him break his habit of sleeping in, but someone had to make sure the division didn't fall into chaos. She had barely completed that thought when the enormity of the situation hit her, jarring her teeth and jerking her out of the sleepy cloud of the early morning. The euphoria evaporated. She had just spent the night with her captain.

_She had just had sex with her __**captain**_

Every time she repeated those words she felt cheaper, dirtier till she felt like scraping her skin off with her own fingernails.

How could she have done this? How could she have allowed something like this to happen let alone instigate it? Why didn't Shunsui stop her! She had been out of her mind last night. How was she even supposed to face him after this? How were they supposed to work together and pretend nothing had happened? How had she allowed the most meaningful act of her life to become nothing more than a booty call?

She reeled from the weight of her actions. Part of her wanted to blame everything on him, that the few sips of sake that were supposed to fortify her had gotten her drunk, that she had been vulnerable and he had taken advantage of that. But she knew that it had been her call, that everything that had happened last night had happened because she wanted it to happen. She knew that she couldn't cheapen what had happened, cheapen them both more than she already had.

She sighed heavily, pushing away the guilt, shame and anger burning through her veins. Ise Nanao was nothing if not practical. She could deal with this; she had committed to only one night after all. She had taken this step so damage control was her business now.

Shunsui…no, Kyouraku Taichou had agreed to one night. That was all she had asked for and that was all he had given. So what if she had said those three words, so what if she had gotten them back? Even if she ignored the consequences of getting involved with a colleague, Love meant nothing in this everlasting world. Love waned away, eroded with the endless tides of time, faded to nothing. She had seen Love, supposedly the most powerful thing in the world, morph into mundane obligation too many times to allow herself to fall into its golden trap. This was the best way; end it before love became a disappointment. One night was all they could have together. One night was all it would be. She wouldn't _let_ it be any more than that. For both their sakes.

_A/N: __Love it? __Like it? Hate it? Let me know!_


	4. Dreamscapes

A/N: First no update in weeks and now two in one day! I'm on a roll today people! I finally sat down to write the third chapter but I couldn't stop typing, so I wrote the fourth as well! All hail coffee overdoses. Please Review people, review!

Peace out.

_Biology_

_**Chapter Four: **__**Dreamscapes**_

Kyouraku Shunsui drifted into consciousness with two ideas clearly formed in his sleep-hazed head.

One, that he was naked under his sheets, a normal state of being for him.

And the second…

There was light in his eyes.

Shunsui flinched, waiting for the explosion of pain that always hit him in varying levels of intensity. It never came. Since the lack of blinding agony meant that he didn't drink himself into a stupor last night, it had to be that he was either horribly maimed or incarcerated. He cracked one eye open gingerly, cautiously surveying his surroundings before whooshing out a breath in relief. He wasn't in a jail cell or the infirmary.

The memories of last night came to him in one dazzling rush. His lips curling into a lazy smile, he turned over to find the space beside him empty. He hadn't expected her to stay, it was late and God forbid his Nanao Chan should sleep in…

He wasn't sure what last night had been. Lapse of judgment on her part, lapse of reality on his? Whatever it was, it had been the most confusing night of his life, and the most enlightening. Time had blurred the edges of when his playful teasing had grown into actual love for her. But it had happened.

He ran his hand through his hair in wonder, staring at the ceiling like he had never seen it before. He had spent last night making love to Ise Nanao. Making love, not sex, because she told him that she loved him. It had been too long since he had felt this way; too long since he had been in love with his lover.

Gods, just the remembrance of the ways in which she had reacted to his touch made him want her again. She used to make his bones ache with desire. Now his very soul cried out for her.

The fact that she wanted last night to be their only night together didn't bother him. He knew her enough to predict her actions. She would have woken up happy, sated, smiling. Then there would be regret, anger and perhaps a bit of shame at what she had done. She would have gotten dressed quickly, efficiently; her elegant hands trained enough to not need a mirror to lay pleats and folds neatly in place. She would have tied up her hair, remembering last night when she had started everything by letting in down and swearing that she wouldn't let it slip a millimeter ever again. Then she would have paused at the door, glanced over her shoulder with eyes so sad and left with the sound of rustling fabric and the swish of the shoji.

She would probably be working herself into a frenzy, trying to kill the growing dread and nervousness inside her. Perhaps her hands would be shaking, and her brush would form spidery, unstable characters on forms and memos instead of her usual precise letters.

He knew that she would try her hardest to run, to make it so it never happened. Her pride and her sense of wrong would eat at her until she "fixed" everything. He'd be damned to the lowest depths of hell if he let her.

He knew every path she ran, every plan in her organized mind, and her knew every way to turn her sensible world inside out. He wouldn't let her get away, not without a fight. After last night, the chase he had been in for decades took a turn in his favor. He would make her love him so much that she will come to him herself.

"Nanao Chan, let the games begin."


	5. Interlude

A/N: Hi! Ducks as rocks fly from the general direction of readers Sorry for the late update. I'm moving house and that includes me packing up my computer. I'll try and update within the next week with a proper chapter. Thank you to all my reviewers and favoriters. You guys are what keep me going Well, I'll let you get on to the chapter now. Leave some love—Review!

Biology

_**Chapter Five: Interlude**_

Yamato Yuui was flummoxed. A few hours ago she had been alternating pleasantly between dozing off at her desk and sipping comfortingly hot tea. A few hours ago everything had been slow and stress-free, appropriate conditions for an early morning at the Eighth headquarters. A few hours ago, when Ise Fukutaichou hadn't stormed in. Yuui hadn't been quite so terrified of a single person for the better part of two hundred years.

"WHAT is going on here?" Fukutaichou had screeched, her glasses in danger of falling off the tip of her nose, "This is a division, not a hot spring resort where you can all just sit around and sip tea!" Yuui didn't stick around long enough to catch what came next but a couple of loud _thunks_ and clouds of black smoke drifting out the windows clued her in. She had never been happier to be in charge of fetching the mail. She had scurried to the mail room to retrieve the inhuman amount of forms, memos and paperwork for the day. By the time she returned to the main office, Ise Fukutaichou had calmed down and the flaming craters in the once immaculate walls and floors had been doused with water and were meekly smoldering.

The rest of the day had been a blur of filling out unintelligible paperwork, making deliveries, stamping and mailing completed paperwork, rearranging the furniture, fixing the damaged floors and walls all wrapped around trying to survive both Ise Fukutaichou's death glare and her skyrocketing reiatsu.

Now it was only noon and Yuui was thoroughly exhausted. That didn't mean she could take a break, though. Ise Fukutaichou had been scary shit when she got angry, and now she had soared past any previous marker of rage ever recorded. She also seemed to have psychically connected with every member of the division. Yuui had only just thought about taking a break and the Vice Captain had been breathing down her neck instantly. She was beyond scary shit now.

The Fukutaichou was sure acting strange today. Yuui shook her head sadly, maybe the workload had finally caught up to her. Things calmed instantly the moment the Captain stepped in around one o clock- which was nothing short of baffling since the exact opposite usually happened. There were no irritated comments from the Fukutaichou about lateness, responsibility, the demerits of too much sake and overtime salary. The Taichou didn't coo over 'lovely, cute Nanao-Chan' and marched straight to his office after generally distant greetings. _T__hat_ had Yuui briefly considering getting the water-supply checked for any strange personality altering elements.

"Oi," a hand smacking down on her desk snapped her out her reverie. She jumped, an excuse poised on the tip of her tongue when her friend Mai's face swum into Yuui's frightened view,

"What're you phasin' out for?" Yuui whooshed out a breath.

"Nothin', just wondering what's got the Fukutaichou so worked up." Mai grinned and peeked over her shoulder before crooking a finger for Yuui to come closer. "Sanomaru, the tenth seat, told me that his friend told him that his friend on sentry duty saw the Vice go into the Captain's quarters last night."

Yuui frowned. Rumors were not tolerated n the Eighth, probably because if someone started on the Captain, they almost certainly wouldn't be able to stop. But this was too juicy to miss; Yuui had put a lot of money into this year's "Ise Fukutaichou and Kyouraku Shunsui Taichou will sleep together before New Year's" betting pool.

"So what? She does that all the time. Taichou's brain mostly works after midnight," Yuui mused. Mai's grin widened frighteningly.

"Here's the catch. _**She didn't come out**_." Yuui's jaw dropped.

"Are you sure?" she gasped. Mai glanced over her shoulder again.

"Dead sure. The Sanomaru's friend's friend sat outside till sunrise. Nearly got pneumonia, but he's very sure she didn't come out. He hasn't even got money in the betting pool so he wouldn't make it up to win. Oh, the Fukutaichou's on her way. See you at lunch."

Mai dashed to her seat and pretended to be working as Ise Fukutaichou marched in. A lot of things began to make sense to Yuui. No wonder the Fukutaichou kept glancing at the Captain's office shoji and twiddling her thumbs restlessly. She hadn't sat down for more than twenty seconds, as if her seat was on fire.

Yuui smiled to herself as she began to fill out form 513 A. Oh yeah, this was going to be good. She'd finally be able to buy that new…

"15th seat Yamato-san, I would prefer if you contemplate your shopping list after work hours!" Yuui jumped and erased everything from her brain except Form 513 A. The Fukutaichou was scary shit.

She could have sworn the Vice Captain almost smiled just as she thought that thought.


	6. Revelations

Some wise person had once said that the buzz of sake in the blood had to be one of the best feelings in the world. She couldn't remember who but Matsumoto Rangiku couldn't agree more. She had been drinking for the better part of 4 hours and had finally managed to get thoroughly drunk, her favorite state of being. Hazards to her liver and other adjacent organs were ignored; if Kyouraku Taichou was alive and well after supplanting blood for alcohol every night of the past 3 centuries, she'd live.

"Matsumoto san….." she giggled as she rolled over to face a very shit-faced Hisagi, "Matsumoto-san."

"Shame on you Hisagi-kun. It's not even midnight yet and you're already high," she slurred, spilling sake onto the mats as she tried to fill her cup.

"But Matsumoto-san… you're drinked…drank…" his face twisted as he tried to get his mouth around the word, "…Inebriated too." Matsumoto gave up on the cup and took a lengthy swig from the flask.

"Am not. Mmmm perfectly sober. So there." She smacked herself on the chest so hard she toppled over backwards. "Help," she choked out, "They're strangling me…"

Hisagi stared blearily in her general direction with something akin to baffled alarm as she rolled over and sat up.

"Matsumoto san…how do you sleep if they," he stared pointedly at her breasts, "Choke you every chance they get?"





Matsumoto opened her mouth to speak, and then shut it again, thoughtfully, pouting as she tried to remember. She looked positively bewildered, Hisagi noted, and more beautiful than ever through the haze of sake clouding his mind. He crawled his way over to her slowly.

"Matsumoto-san…" he murmured, rising to sit on his haunches with his nose touching hers "Would it be…would it be ar'right for me ta kiss ya?"

The sake jolted out of her system. She swung her gaze up to his, shock written over her features. Hisagi smiled placidly, swayed lazily on his knees for a second before keeling over. He was snoring before his head hit her shoulder.

Matsumoto sighed heavily before dragging Hisagi's dead weight to a futon and heaving him onto it. Sheesh. Now she would have to start from scratch again. Oh why couldn't she just get totally plastered for once? It had been weeks since blissful oblivion. She hated her newfound alcohol tolerance.

A loud banging on her door yanked her out of her reprieve. Ah well, time to get real again.

"I'm coming," she yelled, dragging herself to the door. Nanao stormed in the moment she slid it open, livid.

"How dare he?" she snarled, anger radiating off her in waves that Matsumoto could almost see, "How DARE he!" Matsumoto sighed and slid the door shut.

"What did Kyouraku Taichou do now?" she asked, shaking her head. Nanao opened her mouth to speak, before a confused look crossed her face and the mouth she'd opened to talk curved sharply downwards. Matsumoto caught Nanao as she collapsed; her hands pressed to her mouth, sobbing so hard her slight frame quaked uncontrollably. Matsumoto was appalled. Kyouraku Taichou may be many things, but he would never hurt his Vice Captain, never. Nanao weeping for something her Captain did to her was inconceivable, unfathomable.

And if he had hurt her best friend…

Matsumoto shook Nanao brutally.

"Stop it, stop it right now. Stop and tell me what happened!" she glared at her now hiccupping friend, "The Nanao I know doesn't work this way. She doesn't just break down and cry. She does something about her problems. Now tell me what he did to you? Did he hurt you?"

Nanao shook herself free of Matsumoto's grip.



"That's the problem, he didn't do a thing. I did. I've made things so bad between us Rangiku! I don't know what to do anymore. I thought I could stop, I thought I could make it work but nothing's making sense to me anymore!" her eyes welled up again.

"Whoa, slow down hon. How about you sit down and tell me everything?" she led Nanao to the low table, made her sip some sake and waited patiently as Nanao fought to compose herself. It all came out 



in a torrent, her proposal, his consent, the fact that she loved him and that he returned the feeling, the morning after, his coldness and indifference…everything.

"I've never had to deal with him that way. It's usually me getting angry, ignoring him. I finally realized that I love him, and what did I do? I sabotaged it all. He looked at me like he'll never forgive me. And I can't forgive myself for making the most meaningful thing of my life a business offer. What do I do now, Rangiku?"

Matsumoto dragged a hand through her hair.

"Look, Nanao, as far as I know Kyouraku he'd never push you away. You could gut him three times over and he'd still fawn over you like a lovesick puppy. You told him that it was a one night stand right? Maybe he's just trying to get a rise out of you, trying to see whether or not you meant it."

Nanao pondered over this new notion, turning it over and over in her mind. Analyzed it till she was convinced that was exactly what Shunsui was trying to do.

"You know what, Rangiku? I think you're right. Taichou is the type, and everything he has done does point to your conclusion when put under the critical eye." Nanao delicately wiped her face on a nearby napkin before cleaning her tear splattered spectacles.

"So now what?" Matsumoto ventured, a sly smile creeping across her face as she surveyed the furtive look in her friend's eyes as she leaned back into the cushions. Nanao looked up at her through her lashes.

"First I corner him the way he thinks he cornered me, then I torture him, and then, then I make him beg me to marry him."

"Wow, high ambitions Nanao-Chan," Masumoto sniggered. Nanao just shrugged.

"I expect no less… But Ran-Chan, before we do any of that, there is something much more pressing we need to attend to." Matsumoto sighed inwardly.

"And what might that be?"

Nanao grinned evilly, "I need to make one final stop before I commit to this, Ran-Chan. It's something I can't avoid if I'm going to achieve my high ambitions. But tonight, Ran-Chan, tonight we get plastered out of our minds."

"I knew there was a reason you're my best friend, Nanao-Chan" Matsumoto remarked, a flask of sake under each arm.

"Damn straight."


	7. Past, Present and Future

**A/N: **Updated and corrected. Domo Arigatou Gozaimashita!! to **Crumbled** for pointing out fatal flaws. I put in the first name that came to my mind and then forgot to take it out. Anyway, enjoy!

**Past, Present, and Future**

Nanao stood shaking in her proverbial skin. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this nervous. Everything seemed to be looming too high, overpowering her rationale. For the hundredth time since she had started walking, she questioned her decision, stilling her feet until she managed to overpower the anxiety with sheer resolve.

The barrier in front of her was something she would have expected to be far beyond the capabilities of a Kidou Corps Vice-Captain. It was complex, it moved in layers that weaved and spun and danced in circles and tiers under her conscious mind. Under her fingertips, it was solid as steel and fluid as water.

So this was the power of a Kidou Corps Fukutaichou when touched with the hollow spirit; breathtaking and bone-chilling.

Nanao liked Kurosaki Ichigo just fine. Just as much as she liked the rest of the humans, perhaps even more seeing as he was far more entertaining than them all put together, and the aura of tough-love that floated around him and Kuchiki-san when they were together made Nanao secretly turn to goo inside. She had respected him when he broke into Soul Society, respected him as a soldier, hated him as a patriot would an invader. Then he went and exposed Aizen, and saved Kuchiki-san, and she began to respect him as a person.

The boy had somehow become both an eyesore to the brass of Soul Society, and a massive support to the Gotei Thirteen, a much needed support when the Winter War finally began. It was then that Soul Society finally witnessed the power that was Kurosaki Ichigo, and it horrified and disgusted them. It also brought them to the inarguable conclusion that it was better to have Kurosaki on Soul Society's side rather than to stand in his path.

The glimpses of him that the Gotei had had before were nothing compared to the utter rage that the boy… no, man embodied when Kuchiki-san fell in battle. Pain and fury and desperation had spun him out of control, out of time and out of mind. The sheer pressure of his reiatsu had splintered hundreds of souls. He had decimated everything and everyone in his path with an ease that petrified onlookers.

He had fought to the brink of death, split every bone in his body, and split every spirit particle in his soul. Fourth Squad had done everything they could, Unohana Taichou had pressed her bankai upon him, and succeeded in saving his body, but his soul was beyond help, fractured in so many places that it was beyond even Unohana Taichou's capabilities to repair it. Nothing could be done but to let his soul heal itself.

It took a long time, and a lot of patience on the behalf of Urahara Kisuke and Ichigo slowly healed. Kuchiki Rukia stayed by his side, even though she had come as close to death as Ichigo had. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the real reason for Ichigo's recovery wasn't the medication, or the countless procedures Urahara pressed on him, but the very loud and bossy midget of a girl that stayed by his side as only his shadow could. She had healed the broken man as no one else could by her mere presence, drawing him out of his shell as no one else could until the heavy shadows under his eyes and the deep gashes on his heart that they revealed gently healed. Nanao admitted to the fact that she was shit jealous of the bond that they shared.



_Would Lisa-san be the same?_ The thought ran through her mind like quicksilver, a tower of barely suppressed power like the Kurosaki boy, something as utterly volatile as the Kurosaki boy? A mass of past regrets and anger pushed so deep down that it became the core of her existence?

She remembered the evenings she had with Yadomaru Fukutaichou. Nanao would go with her book, usually spell books, to Lisa-san's quarters. Lisa-san would be sitting on the veranda, with the lamplight washing her in yellow and shadows, tea already laid out. Sometimes she would be brushing her hair out, sometimes going over her papers with a little frown that fascinated Nanao so much that she spent hours in front of the mirror trying to replicate it.

Most of the time, she would be sitting with her legs dangling over the edge, leaning forwards on her arms and staring up at the stars as she waited.

These images Nanao had burnt into her brain, never to be forgotten over the long years of her life.

Nanao would totter over to her idol, staggering under the weight of the books she carried and Lisa-san would take them from her, hand her a mug of tea and sit cross-legged with the books spread out before her. This was Nanao's very favorite part of the week. She would sit close to Lisa-san, read aloud from the books and Lisa-san would discuss them with her as an adult.

Nanao had been so very sick of people underestimating her for her age. Lisa-san looked upon her as an adult, as an equal, spoke to her without a single thought of her being 'too young to learn of this'. It thrilled Nanao to the very core of her being; she had seen her time with Lisa-san as the ultimate reward for all the effort she put into her work. She worked herself to the bone so that whenever Lisa-san would 

have use of her, she would not be a disappointment. She read in her lunch breaks so that when she called on Lisa-san, she would be able to make intelligent remarks about the topic.

All for Lisa-san, the only one who gave her credit for who she was and what she had done.

And then she had been taken away, and Nanao couldn't even say goodbye.

It was the turning point of her life. She remembers sitting for days on the veranda, staring at the gate and waiting, waiting, waiting for Lisa-san to come back. The other division members had tried to remove her 'from the scene'. One well aimed Hadou had stopped their efforts in their tracks. Time had bled into a monotony of dawns and dusks, and she had sat there, day after day, waiting. When her stomach began to burn and her head spin for lack of food, she made tea and drank it or ate from the small supply people left at the gate for her, for Nanao was nothing if not practical.

Then one day, out of the haze came a pink coat and the obnoxious Captain swathed in it. She remembers the feeling of her lips curling back to her teeth as she raised her arms to ward off any attempt to take her away from what she had left of her mentor.

Instead, Kyouraku Taichou came and sat with her, slumping down on the worn wood with a heavy clunk of fabric and flesh. The gesture spoke to her of the same devastation and loss that she felt. They sat together for a long time in silence, till she was overcome with her need to voice the things she had buried away in her heart, things too frightening to voice.

"Ano ne, ano ne," he voice was just above a whisper but it ripped at her throat to force it out, "They say, I heard some people say, that…" she swallowed hard, "That Yadomaru Fukutaichou isn't…that she's never coming back…" her eyes flooded and Nanao blinked furiously, forcing back the tears.

"No. She'll come back." The conviction in his voice shook her, and the tears flowed. "Our lives are very long, Nanao-chan. There is no room in it for the word 'never.' I can't say she'll come back tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that, but she _will_ come back. And when she does, you have to be ready for her, don't you?"

She turned to him, dusty eyed and confused.

"You admire her greatly, don't you Nanao-Chan? So if you fall back in your work and your studies, won't Lisa be disappointed in you when she comes back?"

Understanding hit her hard and fast, bringing energy and her will to live her life again rushing through her veins, stumbling on the heels of tremendous relief. If he hadn't used present tense just then, she thinks she might have died inside.

"I think it's things like sitting on long-gone mentors porches for weeks that put you behind, isn't it?"

And just like that, Nanao's life came rushing back. She got to her feet. It didn't put her head any higher than Kyouraku Taichou's.

"I will try my best! I will be everything she was, Taichou, everything and more! I know what I want to be now. I'm going to be the Vice-Captain of the 8th! I will be my best, so that when Yadomaru Fukutaichou comes back, I'll have kept her here all along. So it will be like she never left. So she'll never have to leave ever again."

She turned to the Captain fervently, eyes blazing with passion. He was leaning against the pillar behind him, his hat drawn down so she couldn't see his eyes, and something profound dawned on her then.

"I will do my best, Taichou, I promise this to you. But tonight," she paused, feeling incompetent and inept to comfort a person like him, "tonight, can't we just mourn the fact that she's not here; and that no matter how much I try, I can never be her?"

A dry laugh issued from the shadows of the hat, and the Captain lifted it to look at the sky. It bled in reds and pinks and yellows and purples. The sun was setting.

"Yes, we can. She deserves that much. And so do we, Nanao-chan."



She smiled then, the first time in a long time, as they sat in comfortable silence that resounded of mutual mingled peace.

And of sorrow.

And of healing long overdue.

"Don't call me Nanao-chan."

…………………………………………..

Nanao took a deep breath, calmed her thundering heart, and stepped through the barrier, using every ounce of her ability to keep it from closing up on her again.

And then she was through.

A flight of steps took her down to a barren, dusty field that looked worse for wear, craters and cracks riddling its surface. Someone had tried to plant a struggling garden in one corner. It wasn't doing very well despite the struggle.



She had barely stepped onto the field when four figures appeared before her, too fast for the eye to follow.

"Don't move, shinigami." A tall man with white hair and multiple piercings advanced on her threateningly, "How did you pass the barrier? What is your business here?"

Nanao stood rooted to the spot. No sense in going against a perfectly clear…request.

"I am here to meet Yadomaru Fukutaichou. I mean you no harm. I just want to talk to her."

One of the figures stepped forward, and Nanao's heart skipped a beat, her blood pooled in her feet and then began to thunder its way through her body so fast she found her breath stuck in her throat.

The figure pushed her glasses up with the tip of her finger and smiled.

"Nanao."

"Lisa-san."

A/N: Ah finally a new chapter is DONE! Thankyou so, so, SOOOOO much to everyone who reviewed and stuck with me through this long absence. It's your views that keep my muse alive you know. This here is an un-beat-ed version. Anyone who wants to help me out by being my beta, PM me k? I really could use a second opinion.

Once again, reviews are to me as cake is to a fat kid, so review and don't just favorite k?

MUAH

_biology_


	8. Closure

"_Nanao."_

"_Lisa-san."_

After the impromptu introductions in the training grounds, Lisa-san had shot the rest of the Vaizard the _look_ and led Nanao to a mismatched jumble of buildings. They had obviously been set up hurriedly and with more attention to durability than aesthetics. Bare concrete and steel added to a dusty, dry, unbearably barren scenery that grated on her eyes.

Not that her previous surroundings had been any better. But she had just lost all hope of them improving. After walking through warehouses sporting caved in floors, monstrous drifts of dust and mud and broken parts of god-knows-what in piles as high as her head to get to the training area, even the desert-cave-like hideout was almost bearable. Her meticulous soul quaked at the atrocious levels of disorder around her.

"Ignore it, ignore it. Focus on the goal, Nanao, don't give in to irrelevant details." She suppressed the urge to go bankai on the huge spider web in the corner.

The inside of the building was no better than the outside. There was one big hole down the vertical center of the building that exposed layers upon layers of corridors and rooms. Lisa referred to it rather fondly as the 'mezzanine.' The stairs were unusable so they jumped up through the hole to the top storey. Nanao got a nonchalant shrug and a "Shinji didn't have the patience to fix the stairs…" by way of an explanation.

Lisa's room was on the left, fronted with cracked plaster and a steel door that looked like it belonged to a storage cupboard. The huge window opposite the door had nothing but dangerously sharp shards of what were once window panes left in the neat squares of aluminum. But surprisingly no cold air blew in. In fact the temperature was downright comfortable. Nanao chalked it down to Hachigen's barriers.

The inside of the room drew a sigh of relief from Nanao's brutally injured sense of hygiene. It was far from spotless, but it was cleaner than the outside by leaps and bounds. There was a small rug in the middle of the space, a bed in the corner with rumpled but clean white sheets and a large shelf stuffed full of strangely thin, limp books. They had graphic pictures of naked men and women doing naughty naked things. Very naughty, naked things. They didn't surprise her. Lisa-san had always been more… open-minded, than most.

Lisa slumped onto a cushion she dug out from under the bed and motioned for Nanao to seat herself. She sat gingerly on the bed, folding her legs under her carefully.

"How have you been? It's been what, 100 years now?"

"Very well, Lisa-san. Yes, it's been a long time. We've missed you."

"Like hell you have. Everyone was probably glad they could finally have a meeting without its details leaking out to the free press via yours truly."

"Yachiru-san has taken over that particular job, I believe." Nanao mused.

"Who?"

"No one, you probably don't know her."

"Well, whoever she is, she'd better be living up to previous standards. I'd hate for old Long-Beard to get too comfortable."

Nanao giggled nervously. The conversation was too easy after too long. She supposed she ought to be grateful, but this was in a way worse than an uncomfortable silence. It was erasing all those years of loss. She couldn't bear this familiarity right now. But she didn't know how to break it.

I'm Fukutaichou of the Eighth now."

"I noticed. I don't know whether to congratulate you or lament the loss of your social life. I know how demanding that overgrown child of a captain can be."

Suddenly Lisa was sitting next to her, fingering Nanao's lieutenant armband almost nostalgically.

"Still no fashion sense, eh? I'd show more skin if I were you."

Nanao sighed heavily.

"I'm not you, Lisa-san, as much as I wanted to be, as much as I tried. I just can't be you."

Lisa sat back on her heels, hugging her pillow, to shoot her a curious, slightly amused look.

"I take it this isn't a social call. What's on your mind?"

"It's about Kyouraku Taichou."

She gaped at Nanao, completely fascinated.

"Oh God. You're in love with him, aren't you?"

"Am I that transparent? And oh God! Stop looking at me like I'm a freakshow on legs."

Lisa laughed explosively. Nanao could have sworn the floor shook. A little.

"You are my first source of actual gossip in the longest time. I could kiss your feet right now! By the way, I can read you like a book, Nanao. Did that bastard do something to you? I'll turn his balls into spaghetti."

"Why does everyone think _he's_ going to break _my_ heart?" her voice wavered dangerously.

"You broke his?"

"Lisa-san. I need something from you. An answer, an honest one, no games."

Lisa frowned _that_ frown, fixed her glasses and leaned forward.

"You'd better tell me what this is about right now Nanao, or I'll strangle you. I can't take suspense and you know it."

"Do you love Taichou?"

There, she had said it. The huge unanswered question that had hung over her head ever since the first time her lips had touched Shunsui's.

"What?" Lisa looked incredulous, amused and just a little bit offended. Or maybe that was Nanao being paranoid.

"Do you love Kyouraku Taichou? Did you love him? Does he love you? Just, anything, I just need to know about you…" she swallowed the 'two.' Saying it would bring things that might not even exist too sharply into focus.

Lisa sighed heavily, and pushed her glasses up with the tip of her finger.

"I see. Ok, Nanao. Honest answers and no games. I'll tell you what you need to know, but on one condition."

Nanao's throat constricted.

"What?"

Lisa just smiled.

Hachigen squatted among his begonias.

Correction: the trampled, uprooted, shredded, blown up remains of his begonias.

The previously guilty-faced troupe that was the cause of his flowerbed's untimely demise was now energetically engaged in their usual game of trying to blow each other's heads off.

Hachigen sighed and plopped heavily onto his generous posterior. There was no helping it. They couldn't have put 5 more minutes into their pretend mourning, could they? After all he did to try and make this place more home-like… No one appreciated the beauty of horticulture anymore…

A few well chosen words and the entire Vaizard clan was zooming in, each of their begonia-murdering heads set on a collision course. There was an almighty crash, followed by a volley of curse words that would have surprised New York back alley thugs in their creativity. Hachigen shrugged them off.

"Noggin Crash 21: Flower Formation, complete."

Indignant mutterings floated lazily his way as the rest of the Vaizard finally got the idea that "Hachi is not in the mood of your interminable idiocy" and settled down to their various activities. Hiyori and Shinji were pulling faces at each other, something that was bound to explode into yet another round of noggin bashing since Hachi was **most** definitely not in the mood for their antics. Love and Rose had opened up some manga and were poring over it with the intense concentration of archeologists uncovering their greatest find. Kensei sulked macho-ly in a corner, Mashiro completely obliterating any semblance of 'cool' that had previously existed in relation to him by drawing hearts over his forearms in red marker.

Though Kensei screamed a few obscenities her way, Mashiro and the rest of the Vaizard knew she would get her way in the end. Ten minutes later Kensei was still sulking, though decidedly less macho-ly, with Mashiro using his body as a drawing board unopposed.

Hachi was fully aware of when Ise Nanao passed through his barriers again. He even opened them up a little for her, seeing as how she was a guest for now and Hachi firmly believed in hospitality. Otherwise why would he have stowed away that bottle of expensive sake for the time when someone would come and visit _him_?

"Those are dead for sure." Lisa crept up behind him, slumping down next to him easily, comfortably, as though she had fallen butt-first into the dust a hundred times. Which she probably had.

"Nothing is beyond saving Lisa-chan."

"If you say so. Is she gone?"

"Yes. How did it go?"

Lisa sighed. She'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Acting so very innocent after all you've done…You heard all of it didn't you? You're the one who put the barrier up around the room so those morons wouldn't listen in."

He shrugged and smiled.

"Ah, ever devious you are, Hachi." She smiled lightly, "Thank you."

"No no no, you're not getting off that easily. I want information as thanks."

He began to root about busily in the ruined begonias. She pretended to be offended.

"Really, Hachi. I didn't think you'd use me in this way. How can you be so very cruel to my tender sensibilities?" she threw herself back in a pretend swoon.

"God, aren't you all chipper today. Don't you have some porn lined up to re-enact with someone?"

"Nah, thought I'd give them a rest today. I over work those poor bastards."

He glanced at her over his shoulder, half turning so that they could only see a fraction of each other.

"Do you love him?"

The small smile tugging at the corners of her lips vanished. She drew her legs up to her chest. Somewhere in the background Shinji rocketed off the ground on a giant nosebleed at the sight of her panties.

"Shunsui and I were…complicated. There were a lot of things I loved about him, and there were a lot of things he loved about me. And at one point I think we confused loving aspects of a person with loving a person."

"Common mistake." Hachi returned to his flowerbed.

"Yeah, go figure. Bottom line is, I realize now that I never loved him the way it's supposed to be done. We were too alike, you know? He was a skirt chaser and I was the female counterpart of that. We knew that it wasn't love."

"How very _mature_ of you. Now am I get my answer or not?" Hachi frowned. It was rather formidable.

She paused then, and looked at him square in the eye.

"No. I didn't love him. Mind you the sex was great, and God knows I have yet to get laid like that…"

"TOO MUCH INFORMATION, Lisa-chan." Hachi muttered. Somehow it seemed really _loud_…

"Ok, ok. I get it. No details. Anyway, I killed whatever was between us a long time ago. Now he's just a fond memory of the past. Nothing more. You have no reason to worry about me wasting away for him."

"Knowing you, wasting away over a man is an impossibility. But what did you tell her?" Hachi tilted his head to the exit.

"I told her I had never loved Shunsui. That it was nothing at all, just physical attraction. I hated how he always smelled of alcohol."

"Ah, attention to detail as well. As expected of you, Lisa-chan."

"Yeah well, that's that. I'm going to go and start on my new edition of Josei."

She stood up and brushed herself off. Shinji, who had just barely recovered from his previous lift-off found himself in the same predicament at the sight of Lisa brushing off her butt.

She had walked a few paces before she stopped.

"Hachi, it's just that… I don't know if _**he**_ knew it was only lust. That it was just physical…"

"Shunsui was a smart man Lisa-chan. He'll be fine. You said you two were too alike. I can't see him crying over you either, you know."

Even though Lisa hadn't turned around to face him, Hachi could feel the small smile on her face.

"I'll pretend I'm not offended by that…"

She was almost out of earshot when Hachi's voice called to her.

He was squatting in a bed of flawless begonias.

"See, Lisa-chan? Anything can be fixed." He smiled, gesturing at the verdant, luxurious blooms.

"I'm sure she can fix what you broke."

She turned away before Hachi could see the emotion in her eyes. Not trusting her voice, she just flashed him a victory sign behind her back and walked away.

She had no need to voice any affirmatives. Her reiatsu said it all.

He was right. As always.

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it took me sooooo long to bring out this chapter. And the time had nothing to do with me planning how the chapter should be or actually working on it… In the end it came back down to me, a mug of extra strong coffee and my computer at 2 in the morning. Hehehe. Old habits die hard when you factor in college as well, huh?

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys are the best! I swear this is the last chapter of me making Nanao-chan do weird and random things, and the next one will be pure Nanao/Shunsui yumminess. Even I'm getting impatient with the pace of this so called M rated story :P

Ok, that is all I have to say for now. Look forward to the next chapter! Yoroshiku ne?


	9. Bad Girl! Part 1

Kyouraku Shunsui was a hard man to piss off.

He had been known to take direct insults with a smile, to endure a punch without losing his cheeriness. And to immediately propose drinking parties on his expense to the suddenly-not-so-seriously-pissed-off-and-shit-scared creature. That usually killed any of those murderous opinions people had towards him (though he has no idea _why. _It's not like helping him out with his work just a _little_ would do them any harm. Selfish bastards, the lot of them. Why couldn't more people be like his looovely Nanao-chan?) and he didn't even have to get serious about it. Getting serious required getting sober, and that was so very unpleasant. If only everyone could stay nicely drunk the world would be just that much more beautiful.

However, the eternally unflustered Kyouraku Shunsui had been in a discreet fit of frustration and rage for the past week. He fumed silently. He huffed hotly behind his sake flask. He stalked the corridors late at night instead of drinking with Matsumoto. He sat in his office all day, and sans his usual hangover, actually noticed what was going on.

But worst of all, he started to work.

His underlings were devastated, his superiors stupefied.

All was not well in a world where the laziest Captain in known time began to exert himself. In fact, something had to be **horribly, TERRIBLY** wrong for Kyouraku Taichou to get up at 8 in the morning.

The staff pinned all the blame on their Fukutaichou. She was the reason for all this, she had to be. She had been giving him the cold shoulder for a week now, completely ignoring him and his rather distressed pleas, even when she brought him his daily dose of anti-hangover-juice and sponged his aching head.

In retaliation, Kyouraku Taichou had become highly-strung to the point of snapping. At his poor, anxious subordinates, his stunned colleagues, his awed superiors, at generally everyone, except his best friend.

He was currently slumped in a pool of pink silk haori on Ukitake's porch, toes dangling in the lake below. Which would have been an ordinary enough sight, had it not been the break of dawn.

"You look like shit," Ukitake commented wryly as he handed him a mug of something scalding hot, "Someone close down the brewery?"

He slumped down beside his friend, though rather more gracefully than the former, and pragmatically avoided any combination of his toes and the water. Kyouraku sighed heavily and took a sip from his mug. His eyes widened.

"Ew. This tea is sweet…"

"It's coffee, Shunsui. Rukia-chan brought me a bag of it from the human world. You're supposed to put sugar in it. Otherwise it's too bitter. I thought I could test it out with you."

Kyouraku stared at the mug like it was the most spellbinding he'd ever seen.

"Sugared tea, huh? These humans…whatever are they going to come up with next…" He took another sip gingerly.

Ukitake cleared his throat

"So, you were saying?" Shunsui looked his way blankly before remembering what he had wanted to say.

"Right, right. I look like shit, don't I?"

"Yeah, you wanna tell me why?" Ukitake said, nodding patiently at his not-so-bright friend.

"Can't you guess, Shiro-chan? It ought to be pretty obvious…"

"It's Ise-san, isn't it?" Shunsui nodded.

"Yeah. She's been ignoring me every since… well, ever since we…"

"Since you what?"

Shunsui raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Ukitake balked and scrambled backwards on his hands.

"Shit. Shunsui, you **didn't**. Please tell me you aren't as stupid as I think you are. Please tell me you didn't sleep with her. Please."

Shunsui nodded grimly. Ukitake panicked.

"What are we going to do? Dammit Kyouraku! Why can't you maintain some semblance of control?" he sprang up and started pacing briskly. Kyouraku sighed heavily.

"See, I knew you would freak out. That's why I didn't tell you before," Ukitake stilled. "And just to set the record straight, she came to me, and I tried being the gentleman. But there's just so much a guy can take, you know."

Ukitake groaned and slumped back down.

"Yeah, and you can take less than most. What do you plan to do about this?"

Shunsui turned to him incredulously. "If I knew what I was going to do, why would I come to you?"

"Argh." Ukitake dragged a hand through his hair, mussing it up. "Shunsui, do you love this girl?"

"Uh-huh. A lot." Shunsui grunted, guzzling down his lukewarm coffee. Ukitake shook his head at his friend's eloquence. But he got the picture. They were both really old men, and no matter how immature Shunsui might be, he knew the difference between _love_ and _like_. Men like the two of them didn't use that word unless they were deadly serious. Love was a word a shinigami never used lightly.

"Right." He shook himself mentally at his own eloquence. "Now that we have that down, I presume that after you were done ravishing her, you fell asleep and haven't bothered contacting her or trying to talk about it since?"

Kyouraku looked at him with puzzled and slightly guilty eyes.

"Yes?" he muttered around his mouthful of coffee.

And there was silence.

Shunsui finally caught up on the fact that his friend was shocked, and more than a little disturbed.

"Look, I felt insecure ok? I wasn't the one who made the move, she ran out on me before I could even wake up. And this is Nanao we're talking about. She's not just _some_ girl. That woman has a brain bigger than all of fucking Rukongai! And everything I do is just so wrong for her, and…"

Ukitake couldn't help it anymore. He stood up cautiously, and taking careful aim, kicked Shunsui square in the back, sending him flying over the edge and into the lake with an almighty splash.

The haori floated like a huge dead fish on the surface, the coffee stained the clear water brown as the mug sank to the bottom. Shunsui emerged spluttering and cursing fluently.

"I hope that cleared your hopelessly clogged head. And you can't deny that you deserved that, you pig. That and the horrible coffee." Ukitake declared from atop his wooden throne as Shunsui bubbled, utterly dejected.

"But Shiro-chan!" Shunsui protested weakly. Ukitake hurled his mug of coffee at the bewildered man.

"Don't you try to 'Shiro-chan' your way out of this, go right now, and I mean _right_ **now** and apologize to that poor girl! I mean NOW."

"But Shiro-chwaaaan…"

"Shunsui! You just said you're in love with Ise-san. How can you say that and then not pursue her? How can you sit here on my porch at 5 am and not go to her and work things out? Stop acting like an idiot…you love her…" he shook his head despairingly, "You can't let this go…"

Shunsui was out of the water in the blink of an eye.

"If this doesn't work, then the Gotei will suffer, Shiro. But more than that, I'm afraid Nanao will be disappointed in me. I can't take the thought of her falling out of love with me, you know…"

"You're disappointing her now, even as we speak. With things like this, if you back off, there are no second chances. And I believe she's given you more than just a second chance."

Shunsui sighed beside him sagely. "You're right. I'll go talk to her."

Ukitake beamed as Shunsui stood up and mock saluted him.

"Oh, and before you go to woo your woman, Shuu-kun, I suggest you dig the weeds out of your hair…"

Shunsui smiled sheepishly and pulled the offensive vegetation out before shunpo-ing like his life depended on it.

Ukitake smiled as he watched his friend depart. Ah, it had really been too long since he was last in love. To think Ise-san managed to make Shunsui fall so badly he questioned his own abilities to seduce. He smirked and lay back on the smooth wood. The sun was rising and the sky was just beginning to turn a rich shade of rose.

It was going to be a beautiful day.

A/N: Hey readers! The promised Nanao evilness comes up in Part 2. I'll have it up in a couple of hours! Don't forget to review! XD


	10. Bad Girl! Part 2

Shunsui was speeding through Seireitei, making a direct beeline for Division 8 headquarters, and his kawaii Nanao-chan. Ah, just the thought of their passionate reunion made his cheeks flush with happiness (and a little of something far less cultured). He snickered to himself and impatiently increased the speed of his shun-po. He belatedly considered drying off before reaching his destination, but discarded it immediately. Nanao chan was waiting for him to save her from her loneliness, and what option did that leave him with but to rush to her side!

Suppressing his gleeful giggle as he skidded to a stop outside the shoji door of Division Eight, he drew himself up to his full height, tipped his hat back, smoothed his haori and strutted in the very image of everyone's dapper Prince Charming.

Only to come to a screeching halt, with his plans crumbling about his ears.

His mouth dropped open. Whatever Intelligent thought he had had left him.

His brain fizzled and melted into a pool of goo that seeped out his ears.

He was pretty sure his nose was bleeding but he couldn't care less.

For before him, was his beloved Nanao-chan.

In a mini-skirt.

And high heels.

Nothing could have prepared him for this onslaught of his senses! He must have swooned at the sight of her endless legs exposed the way they were. And the fact that their loveliness was so very much enhanced by the 3 inch heels she was sporting. They tied around her slim ankles in a way that made his stomach tie itself up in knots.

Nanao pretended not to have noticed him, or the way he was drooling on the glossy floor, and for once she wasn't bothered with him dirtying the place up. She was too busy fighting down the blush that threatened to turn her face luminescent. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down she turned around to face her speechless captain. And just like that, waking up at 5 am to get into her outfit was suddenly worth it.

He was as pale as a sheet, unblinking, and she could have sworn he was turning a little blue from hypoventilation. Squelching her smirk of satisfaction, she immediately fell into character.

"Ara! Taichou, you never fail to surprise me by showing up so early these days, but did you forget to take your clothes off for your shower this morning? You're soaking wet!"

Oh God! She was … oh and that… oh, even the frown… sexy… must… oh God…

He was pretty sure she was speaking to him but he couldn't make out her words past the roar in his ears. He mumbled unintelligibly. Was it just him or was she being a little less than frigid with him today?

He shook his head like a dog, attempted to form coherent words and then promptly lost his train of thought as she showed up at his side, wiping his face dry with a towel. And then chucked it at his head before sashaying away.

"No more laziness. You have paperwork to fill out Taichou."

"Oh FUCK! SHE'S SASHAYING!" was the first complete thought that went through his head.

His years of experience must have somehow conditioned his muscles to move automatically because he could have sworn he had no control over his head turning to watch her hips sway as she glided out the door.

His mouth was suddenly dry as the desert. He swallowed hard, his mind catching up to his imagination now that she was out of his field of vision.

"Oh shit. I'm screwed."

Nanao chan, you bad, bad girl!


	11. Misunderstandings of the Good Kind

**Misunderstandings of the Good Kind**

**Part I**

"So, let me get this straight…You drooled?"

"Basically, yes." Shunsui lifted his head out of his hands to answer before allowing it to drop back in despair.

"And that's it?"

"Pretty much…"

Ukitake sighed and slumped down onto the porch….Again. The stars were out now, reflecting off the smooth surface of the lake, another day of his life drawing to a close. And Ukitake had been expecting some sort of progress by his rather dense friend but it looked like that wasn't a possibility anytime soon.

"You have to be, the most STUPID man to walk the planet." It was a statement, not a dubious exclamation.

Shunsui turned to look at him in disbelief tinged with desperation.

"What part of this don't you _understand_? She was in a MINISKIRT! Do you _know_ what that's _like_?" his voice was edging towards hysteria.

"Hai, hai. I get it, her legs were visible." Shunsui's gaze became vacant again as he lapsed into some overly creative daydreams. Ukitake nudged him impatiently.

"Look, let's get some facts straight here. Has Ise-san ever, in the history of her existence, worn something like that?"

Shunsui looked up, suddenly serious.

"No. She never wore anything remotely skirt-like even when she was a child."

Ukitake lapsed into silence.

"Well, then why do you think she'd start now?"

"Women's minds work in mysterious ways?" was Shunsui's contribution in the way of intelligent reasoning.

"Look, Shunsui. You know more about women than anyone I know, and that's saying a lot. Let's try and find out what she's thinking and maybe then we can find a way to get her to give in to you…"

Shunsui 'hmph-ed' at his friend.

"Nanao-chan doesn't think like the average woman, or the average man even. Believe me. If she did, I'd have gotten my way with her a long time ago."

Ukitake's smooth forehead creased with concentration.

"Shunsui, do we have a consensus on the fact that you think very much like the average man? With regards to women, that it" he added hastily at his friends incensed expression on the insult to his intelligence.

"I suppose I do." He said, only half paying attention to Ukitake's focus-entailing diatribe.

"You definitely do," Ukitake nodded confidently to himself, "See the target, zone in on it, and acquire, right?"

"Generally. It depends on a lot of factors though…" Shunsui muttered half-heartedly.

"Exactly. What does it depend on Shunsui?" Ukitake was delighted at the progress at which his dim friend was catching on.

Shunsui sat up at this, his favorite subject, and started throwing points Ukitake's way off the top of his head.

"On how open the lady in question is, if she looks interested enough, the way she moves, the way she dresses…"

Understanding began to dawn physically on Shunsui's features as he trailed off, eyes widening.

'Yes," Ukitake hissed, drawing the word out lovingly, "She's trying to-"

Ukitake was interrupted by an explosion of reiatsu that roiled out of Shunsui.

"She's trying to show that she's interested in some man?! Is that what you're trying to say?"

"Erm…Yes? But Shunsui, that man is most probably y-"

Shunsui was off the porch in the blink of an eye, his reiatsu fluctuating wildly, making Ukitake wince.

"I'm gonna kill that bastard!"

And with those dangerously low words, Shunsui was gone in a flash and flurry of pink haori and soaring spirit power.

Ukitake sat frozen on the porch, unable to move from shock and disbelief at what had happened. He had known Shunsui was dumb in anything that involved Ise-san, but _this_ stupid was a new low. Of the previously uncharted level.

"Yare yare, how can you not realize that **you're** that bastard?" Ukitake muttered before resigning himself to lying back on the porch and staring up at the stars.

If Ise-san was so bent on having his reckless friend as her lover, then she'd deal with his idiocies as well.

He only hoped Shunsui came out of her remedial actions alive.

_A/N: Sorry for the late update readers! But I've come to realize it's very hard to type with a fractured arm, so you'll have to forgive me. Hehe. I'm much better now though, and the break from my keyboard has my creative juices running! So yeah, be prepared for lemony-ness in the next chapter! And leave some love, review! ___

_Peace._

_*~*Biology*~*_


	12. Break Up Make Up

Nanao was in an exceptionally foul mood. Her feet ached, thanks to the lack of coverage the office felt drafty and a little too cold to be comfortable and the makeup Rangiku and Nemu had slapped on her face was beginning to itch…

Not to mention the dozen or so subordinates hovering around to 'help her with the paperwork' when she knew all they were doing was trying to do was peek down her shirt.

But what really got to her was that the reason she was putting up with this and not giving everything the death-glare had turned tail and fled within minutes of seeing her

………………………

"_Look at you~! Doesn't she look gorgeous Nemu chan?" Rangiku sat back happily to survey her handiwork. Isane fidgeted. Nemu nodded solemnly. _

"_You look very appropriate for your mission, 8__th__ Squad Lieutenant Ise. Were I a male I would very much like to copulate with you."_

_Nanao blanched as Rangiku elbowed Nemu urgently in the ribs, her smile taking a turn for strained. Isane merely flailed rather helplessly as Kiyone giggled into her hand._

"_Why do you poke me so, 11__th__ Squad Lieutenant Matsumoto? I was trying to let Lieutenant Ise know how open and accepting to spontaneous bouts of intercourse she now looks. Was that not the aim of this entire practice?"_

_Kiyone's giggles evolved into full-blown guffaws as Isane and Nanao dove for the tissues. By the time Rangiku was done booting Nemu out Nanao had succeeded in wiping off most of the hooker-face. _

"_Rangiku san, I told you not to overdo it! Mou…" Isane complained, dabbing furiously at the purple gook Rangiku had splashed over Nanao's eyelids. Rangiku ignored her and plopped down in front of the now-terrified-guinea-pig._

"_Okay, I'll tone it down this time… sheesh, you guys just don't appreciate my talents." She set to work with her brush ( while Isane's background music of 'Natural, go natural Rangiku chan' seemed to be set on repeat) but suddenly stopped mid-stroke._

"_Nanao my love, my dear friend, I shall make you beautiful to the best of my abilities, but I have one, just ONE meager condition. Under no circumstances are you to give anyone, and I mean ANYONE, the death-glare."_

_The girls 'ooh-ed' and nodded at each other. How could they have forgotten such an important facet of the plan? Nanao frowned. Walking around in those torture instruments called heels was fine, smiling that sickening smile the girls made her practice was fine, but keeping the glare under check… that would be challenging…_

"_Nanao, your answer?" Rangiku brandished her mascara wand with flair and fixed Nanao with an authoritative gaze. Nanao sighed in defeat before nodding. Rangiku squealed happily and bounced up and down._

"_Ok, now we haven't established why we're girly-ing you up Nanao. We all know your crazy man and his crazy antics. We also know that although your crazy man can be serious and deep and powerful and all those good things that make us think he's hot and less of an ape, in the end he's a skirt chasing, sake drinking MAN. And I mean that in the most basic sense. Do you follow?"_

_Nanao cracked open an eye._

"_I follow that you're giving me a lot of reasons to not make a fool of myself by indulging in this farce you call seduction…"_

_Rangiku bopped her head with a brush._

"_He's a GUY. A very guy-like guy. Underneath all that *ahem* suavity he's just a guy. And the more masculine they are, the easier they are to read."_

_Nanao managed a perplexed face even with all the foundation layered on her._

"_What I mean is, your guy is very testosterone-driven. Therefore, the easiest way of forcing a response from him is the simplest one. J-e-a-l-o-u-s-y. Jealousy. It's bound to work on him. There's no way he won't be taken by it."_

_It didn't take much thought on Nanao's part for her to deduce that Rangiku was a genius when it came to men. She told her as much._

_Rangiku squawked out her pleasure and grinning, returned to her task with renewed fervor._

…………………..

He still wasn't back and it was nightfall already. She glanced wistfully out the window before returning to the mindless babble the handsome but brainless 4th seat of the 5th Squad was churning out.

Did this man ever shut up? He was beginning to ride her last nerve on a razorblade. It was a miracle Ahou-dono didn't catch on to her lack of attention, or her oozing murderous intent. He had to be really dense to remain unaware of that…

"—have you been there? I went with my last girlfriend and it was awesome. So was she, by the way… Woo hoo, was she a looker. I only go out with the best you know—"

Oh now he'd done it. Her tongue was cramping from the effort of holding the snark in, and her glasses seemed to have a mind of their own as they slipped down her nose. Just a little further and she'd be able to throw him a custom-made-extra-strong-yet-accidental glare…

"_Under no circumstances are you to give anyone, and I mean ANYONE, the death-glare."_

She slapped herself mentally. HARD. What were you thinking Ise Nanao? I never go back on my word.

But it wasn't her fault, she reminded herself, for Nanao was nothing if not objective in her outlook. She was tired and achey and disappointed and she just wanted to go home and sleep it off but this stupid man wouldn't let her be done with her job. Luckily, however, Ahou-dono didn't seem to need her to respond and took bored indifference for absolute rapture.

Nanao decided. She would use this empty-headed-ness to her advantage.

Half and hour later Nanao was tearing away at the paperwork, heels toed off, hair pulled back as Ahou-dono continued creating white noise. Things were beginning to get quite pleasant. Too pleasant…

She should have known it wouldn't last…

There was a burst of reiatsu equal to the detonation of an atomic bomb. Nanao gasped as it crashed down on her like a wet lead blanket, oppressing but strangely familiar…

Ahou-dono seemed to have fainted. Good riddance, she thought. Through the haze of spirit power clouding her mind she sensed the reiatsu to have originated from the 13th division headquarters.

It seemed to be drawing nearer. No, it was coming closer to the 8th as an alarming speed. Warning bells went off in Nanao's head as she stumbled to the division entrance. Most of the members still in HQ were incapacitated, bent over themselves on the ground. She couldn't expect any backup…

_**Where was that useless Captain when you needed him?**_

The thought hadn't fully crossed her mind when it hit her. That was Shunsui's reiatsu! No wonder it felt familiar. Shunsui pelting out reiatsu while shunpo-ing from the 13th Division HQ, it didn't take a genius to put two and two together. Obviously Ukitake Taichou had said something to Shunsui that upset him, and now he was just that. Upset. Albeit a little more than all those other times…

Nanao calmed herself, strolled back into her office and slid her fan out of her sleeve. She tapped it on her wrist, once, twice before flinging out her arm and slamming the fan into Shunsui's face that had only just occupied the airspace.

The seething anger in the reiatsu faded gratifyingly fast as Shunsui tripped over his own feet, clutching his face. A weak 'Nanao chwa~an' escaped him as his back hit the wall.

"Taichou. Will you kindly explain to me what you think you are doing blasting spirit force and incapacitating my entire division?" the fan tapped a fearsome tattoo on her wrist. At least she had kept her promise and not glared him dead. The reiatsu ebbed away, as Shunsui reestablished control over himself.

Shunsui dragged his hand down his face, his eyes ominously serious. He was missing his hat. She suddenly felt a little bit alarmed, and a little bit frightened. She didn't want to take a few steps closer to him, but she did, reaching out.

"Taichou… are you alright? Is there some danger?"

She noticed how his eyes swept over the office, taking in the two cups of tea, the two cushions at her desk and of course Ahou-dono kissing the floor. Those serious eyes shot back to hers. The movement was instantaneous; his gaze didn't stop anywhere between Ahou-dono's upturned ass and her eyes. It weakened her knees.

This was just like that day… it wasn't fair. How could he be the stupid Captain she knew one moment and then throw it all away for this new façade?

He had pinned her with those intense eyes, staring at her, his expression livid as he opened his mouth to say

"Is he the one?"

Nanao couldn't hold back the stunned and very unseemly "Eh?" Her incredulity didn't faze her Captain at all.

"Is he the one? The one you're…" he swallowed thickly, "The one you're going out with?"

When the disbelief wore off Nanao raised her eyebrows delicately.

_Well, that was easy…_

Apparently Rangiku's plan seemed to have worked already and it hadn't even been 8 hours. Lovely. She made a mental note to refer to Matsumoto in all instances of man-trouble. Now all she had to do was give the final small push to help the plan reach completion.

"I don't know what you are referring to Captain. I'm not dating anyone at the moment." She calmly turned back to her desk while her heart hammered a military march in her ears and waited for the stammered acknowledgement and embarrassed laughs.

Instead she found herself pinned to the opposite wall facing a very pissed off Shunsui. the look didn't make her inside curl in on themselves. No sir. She was the one in control of this situation and she had contingency plans for this situation.

Now if only she's revised them beforehand… really her captain could be so inconsiderate…

His fingers tightened on her upper arms, warmth flowing promisingly beneath the almost uncomfortable pressure of them.

"Then why haven't you said one straight word to me since you came to me?"

Oh. This wasn't in the plans at all. He wasn't supposed to confront her. Rangiku had said men shy away from talking about the important things.

He shook her lightly. "Well?"

"We've been working together perfectly Captain, there have been no problems."

"I'm not talking about work. I'm talking about us. You won't talk to me straight but you'll flirt relentlessly with other men. Do you want to torture me?"

She was perilously close to word-vomit.

"You are embarrassed by that night, I understand, but there's nothing to be ashamed of Nanao-chan."

"I'm not ashamed! It was my choice and you know I don't go back on my decisions."

"Then what is this Nanao? You wanted pretenses and a one night stand?"

She's never seen him like this. Cold. Controlled. Impersonal. Without a shred of warmth. Anger rolling off him in tangible waves, the tide of it responding to her and reaching to her as though she was the moon.

_This does it. This farce can't go on. What was I thinking trying to establish a relationship on games and lies?_

"Please stop manhandling me, Shunsui. Now."

She shrugged off his hands, exasperated.

"You idiot. You were playing games with me too! You never once tried to talk it out, you pretended like it never happened!"

Shunsui opened his mouth, indignant, but she cut in. She had no intentions of listening to his psychobabble before she was done.

"What did you think I was doing here with the skirt and the heels and the flirting? I was trying to provoke you into saying something. I was trying to make you jealous. What makes you think I'm interested in Ahou-dono here?"

The man in question groggily shook himself awake to burble out a "I wasn't into you either, ba-ba."

"Anyway," she said, absently digging her heel into Ahou-dono's forehead, "You were being an asshole. And Rangiku said this might help…"

He was silent. It was making her uncomfortable. She wished he would yell, or rant or do _something_. Anything. She couldn't meet his eyes this way…

"I know tricking you was mean of me. I didn't mean to hurt you Cap-Shunsui… I just…"

The rest of her words were lost as her face dove into a sea of pink patterned silk that smelled of his warmth.

"You little idiot. No, I'm the idiot. You…"

The words wouldn't come so he just settled for fitting her against him and sighing into her hair.

"You witch! You played me like a game of shogi!"

"Are you displeased with the outcome?" her voice floated up to him muffled by fabric and his chest.

They would talk it out. Yes, and he'd make this work. But not now. Now he wanted to ingrain the feel of her into his mind.

"Uh hmmm. I wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
